Initially the communists didn't have complete control. in some East-German cities, non-communists were appointed as mayors. The communists did control education and the appointment of personnel though

The communist SED gradually eliminated political opponents

The soviet military command suppressed political party activity in Berlin. CDU and LDPD activities were ended

Free expression was limited and political dissent was restrained

The military government determined appointments and dismissals

Democracy was abandoned in 1949-49 - the SED announced a Marxist-Leninist "Party of a new type" based on democratic centralism. It established mass organisations under communist control of groups of people

The SED was the leading communist party in the East - led by Walter Ulbricht. It claimed to be a liberator from fascism and that workers and peasants were innocent of Nazism

The SED called for the "establishment of an anti-fascist, democratic regime, a parliamentary-democratic republic"

The SED won popular support by confiscating property belonging to Nazis, war criminals and Junkers

Initially the communists encourged the establishment of parties within the Soviet Zone whom they could cooperate with

The SED increasingly gained control by setting up two new parties - the National Democratic Party (aimed at former Nazis) and the Democratic Peasants Party of Germany

All parties agreed that state control and economic intervention were needed. This gave communism further support